Brisbane Times and Sun-Herald journalist

A case of friendly banter "went horribly wrong", causing the death of a man who was pushed by a mate at a Gatton pub, according to a coroner.

Ralph Frederick Zessin died on August 7, 2012, two weeks after he fell and hit his head outside the Commercial Hotel in 2012.

Deputy state coroner John Lock found no sufficient evidence to lay any charges over what he described as “some banter and play which went horribly wrong”.

Mr Zessin had been pushed from the pub's door about 2.30pm on July 24 by his friend, David West, after they had been observing police outside, who were attending to a separate matter.

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Bar manager Grant Blake, who dialled triple-0 after Mr Zessin's head struck the ground, told the inquest there had been a running joke at the pub about Mr Zessin never being caught drink-driving, despite often driving to and from the Commercial Hotel.

In evidence, Mr Blake said Mr West was trying to rustle Mr Zessin out of the door as a joke, saying “there are the police, get outside you c---".

Mr Zessin, 64, was 172 centimetres tall and weighed 72 kilograms. Mr West, 62, told the inquest he was “twice Ralph's size”, although Mr Lock accepted that was an exaggeration.

“It is clear Mr West was of a larger stature to Ralph,” Mr Lock said.

Mr Zessin was taken to Gatton Hospital and then to Ipswich Hospital. Due to the seriousness of his head injuries, he was admitted to Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital at 6.55pm that day.

Following discussions with Mr Zessin's family, treatment was withdrawn on August 6 and he died the next day.

“It is not difficult to come to the conclusion that it is most likely and probable that Ralph fell to the footpath as a result of being pushed by David West,” Mr Lock said.

“This was clearly in the context of some friendly banter with David West and the events happening outside with the police.

“…The push was intentional, but it was not intended to cause Ralph any injury.”

Mr Lock said Mr West's account of the incident, in which he said he attempted to stop Mr Zessin stumbling backwards and, in the process, inadvertently pushed him, was “not supported by any of the eyewitness evidence”.

“Mr West certainly has not helped his position by not being as frank as he could be with police and to this court,” he said.

“…No doubt he may have lied to police, although there are many explanations why people would lie which do not necessarily equate to a consciousness of guilt.”

Mr Lock said it would have been preferable for Mr Zessin to have been transported directly from Gatton Hospital to the PA, however it was “evident he had unsurvivable traumatic head injuries and any delay did not contribute to the ultimate adverse outcome”.